Verdict awaited in hacking trial

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An US federal jury has begun deliberations in the trial of
an accused computer attacker in one of the largest federal computer
theft cases.

Scott Levine, former chief executive of the bulk email firm
Snipermail.com, based in Boca Raton, Florida, faces 144 counts from
a July 2004 indictment in what prosecutors described as one of the
largest computer crime cases ever.

Levine is accused of stealing 8.2 gigabytes of information from
Little Rock-based Acxiom, one of the world's largest database
companies. The violations occurred from around April 2002 to August
2003.

The 1.6 billion records included names, home addresses, phone
numbers, e-mail addresses, bank and credit card numbers involving
millions of individuals. But prosecutors determined that no
identity fraud was committed. There was, however, a sale of
information to a marketing company, prosecutors say.

In a four-week trial filled with high-tech testimony, both sides
tried to simplify their arguments through symbolism.

Defence lawyer David Garvin pleaded Levine's innocence using an
oft-quoted parable about a child saving starfish sent ashore to die
by the uncontrollable tide. Prosecutor Karen Goldman countered with
her own analogy.

"Scott Levine's username was Snipermail13 - why was 13
chosen? Because that was the number of Miami Dolphins quarterback
Dan Marino," Goldman said. "And just like a quarterback leads the
team, Scott Levine led the crime."

Like Goldman, Garvin attached significance to the computer name
used by Levine's brother-in-law Mike Castro, one of the six
Snipermail employees who pleaded guilty to acting as Levine's
co-conspirators in exchange for their testimony against Levine.
Castro's username was Snipermail007.

Garvin said Castro thought of himself as a secret agent, a
computer James Bond who could use his technical knwoledge to frame
Levine, a boss who once was so ill-at-ease with computers that he
had to write out his emails by hand.

Assistant US Attorney Todd Newton asked jurors to focus on the
work done on Levine's personal laptop, using monitors to show
jurors online chats among Snipermail employees about Levine's pet
project of downloading as many Acxiom files as possible.

Prosecutors say Levine was using the files to start postal mail
marketing campaigns and to bolster Snipermail's contact lists to
make the company look more attractive for a multimillion-dollar
buyout.